Card game bid indicator



Sept. 16, 1969 1.. H. LEADLEY CARD GAME BID INDICATOR Filed Dec. 20,1967 NELLO NO TRUMP INVENTOR. Louis Hall Leadley A! orneys United StatesPatent 3,467,382 CARD GAME BID INDICATOR Louis Hall Leadley, 654 ArimoAve., Oakland, Calif. 94610 Filed Dec. 20, 1967, Ser. No. 692,135 Int.Cl. A631 N12, 1/14, 3/00, 7/04 US. Cl. 273-148 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE The present invention relates to apparatus for visuallydisplaying the contract bid in the course of playing a card game, andhas specific, although not exclusive utility in displaying the contractin a bridge game.

In a card game, such as bridge, competitive bidding establishes acontract to which the last bidder must play in order to win a particularhand. Since the playing of a hand might well entail a number of minutes,and involve considerable concentration, it is possible that any one orall of the players might forget the value of the contract to be played.When this happens, it is necessary to break the concentration of theplayers by asking either the scorekeeper, or ones partner, what thecontract is.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a visual indicationof the value of the contract which is readily seen by all of theplayers, and which prevents interruptions which might cause a break inthe concentration of the players in order to request the informationprovided by the indicator.

It is another object of the invention to prevent interruptions bykibitzers at a playing table by providing an immediate and constantvisual indication of the contract being played by the players duringeach hand.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a compact, durablecontract bid indicating device which permits immediate identification ofthe contract being played, and ready adjustment of the device toindicate such contract after each bidding is closed. An object relatedto the foregoing is to provide a practical contract bid indicatingdevice in an attractive package which is small enough to be retaineddirectly on the playing table without interfering with the play, andwhich makes an attractive gift or prize.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willappear from the following detailed description, taken in conjunctionwith the drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an indicator device constructed inaccordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a layout of an exemplary polyhedral shell which comprises aportion of the device of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is an elevation of a sphere, indicating the relative positionof a series of integers thereon.

While the invention is clearly susceptible of various modifications andalternative constructions, a specific illustrative embodiment is set outin the drawing and will be described in detail hereafter. -It is to beunderstood that the invention is not intended to be limited to thespecific disclosed form, but rather to cover all modifications,alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit andscope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

3,467,382 Patented Sept. 16, 1969 Contract bridge is representative ofthe type of game to which the present invention is readily adaptable.Accordingly, the present invention will be described with respect to itsutility in a contract bridge game. The concepts which underly thisexemplification of the invention herein described may be adapted toother games without departure from the invention.

With reference now to the drawings, and specifically to FIGURE 1, thedevice, indicated generally at 10, is representative of the presentinvention. As there shown, polyhedral shell, in this instance a cube 12,houses a sphere 14 as may be seen in FIGURE 2, the shell is readilyformed from a blank indicated generally at 16, which comprises a seriesof consecutive attached panels 18, 19, 20 and 21 which are separated byfold lines 23, 24, and 25, respectively. Extending outwardly from one ofthe panels, in this case panel 19, are two additional panels 27 and 29.These panels are separated from the panel 19 by fold lines 31 and 32,respectively.

As may be seen in FIGURE 2, each of the panels is formed with a windowtherein, and in keeping with the intended purpose of the device as itrelates to a bridge game, the panel 18 is formed with a window 34 whichis symbolic of a club suit in a deck of cards. Likewise, the panel 19 isformed with a window 35 symbolic of the heart suit, and the panel 20 isformed with a window 36 symbolic of the diamond suit, and the panel 21is formed with a window 37 symbolic of the spade suit.

In order to render the device suitable for use in a bridge game, thepanel 27 is formed with a window, in this instance, a square window 39which is intended to represent a no-trump bid. It is desirable, but notnecessary to print the word no-trump in a convenient position on thepanel 27 with respect to the window. Likewise, the panel 29 is formedwith a window 41, in this instance a circle, which may be representativeof a bid in another card game, such as Whist. Again, the designation ofthe bid may be printed beneath the window, or somewhere on the panel 29indicating the representation that that panel has.

It will be appreciated that the blank 16 is readily formed of heavypaper, metal or plastic, and readily folded along the various foldlines, about the sphere 14, to provide the structure 10.

With reference to FIGURE 3, in order to permit a simultaneous visualindication of the numerical value of the contract being played at anyspecific time, a series of integers 43 are imprinted on the sphere 14.In the instance shown, integers run from one through seven, indicatingthe number of tricks in a contract bridge game. It will be appreciatedthat any numerical designation, or pictorial representation, might beimprinted on the sphere to render the device usable for any specificgame.

The numbers are of such size that they will appear in total within anyone of the windows in the various panels of the cube, and they are soarranged on the sphere that only one integer will appear within anygiven window in its proper orientation, thereby eliminating any possibleconfusion as to the positioning of the device on the card table, or theprecise nature of the contract being played at any given time.

The sphere is preferably of a diameter which approximates the distancebetween any two opposed side panels. In this manner, the various panelswill be tangent to the surface of the sphere, and engage the same tocause a certain amount of frictional drag tending to resist movement ofthe sphere. Proper proportioning of the sphere and cube will providesufiicient flexibility to permit the sphere to be positioned in the cubeto permit indication of the contract being played at any given time andthat position will 'be frictionally maintained, until physicallychanged. It will be appreciated that the sphere is readily manipulatedwithin the cube by simply rotating the same" with the fingers. To thisend, the various windows on the panels are of sufiicient size to permita finger to extend therethrough.

If it is desired to minimize frictional rubbing between the interior ofthe panels and the sphere, a series of soft pads, such as thoseindicated at 45 and 46 on the interior surface of panels 20 and 21,respectively, may be employed to frictionally hold the sphere in itspreset posi tion. The pads 45 and 46 may also be employed as an adjunctto the retention of the sphere in its proper position where it isconsidered that the frictional engagement between the panels and thesphere is inadequate for that purpose.

I claim as my invention:

1. For use in visually displaying the contract in a card game or thelike, a bid indicator device comprising, a regular polyhedral shell, asphere frictionally supported within said shell and manually engageabletherethrough for relative rotation, one of said shell and sphere havingsymbols thereon representing the suits of a deck of cards, and the otherone of said shell and sphere having integers representing the numericalvalue of the bid, a predetermined symbol and integer being superimposedto visually indicate the value of a contract being played.

2. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said shell is in theform of a cube.

3. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the walls of said shelldefine windows therein, and said windows have shapes which are symbolicof the suits in a deck of cards used in the card game being played.

4. The apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein said windows are ofsufiicient size to permit manual manipulation of said spheretherethrough.

5. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the outer diameter ofsaid sphere is substantially the same as the distance between the planesof the two closest opposed wall panels of said shell so as to permitsaid sphere to be frictionally engaged with the walls of said shell yetpositionable therein with a desired integer displayed in a particularwindow.

6. The apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein said integers arepositioned on said sphere so that an integer will appear in its properorientation in only one Window at any given time.

7. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein pads are provided insaid shell to frictionally engage said sphere and retain the same in apreset position during playing of each contract of the card game.

8. The apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said shell is formed ofa blank having four side panels disposed consecutively in a row, saidside panels being separated by fold lines, each panel having a windowformed therein, and two additional panels extending from said sidepanels and separated therefrom by fold lines.

9. The apparatus as set forth in claim 8 wherein said two additionalpanels are formed with windows therein.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,209,542 12/1916 Best 2731481,550,011 8/1925 Cobb. 1,734,650 11/ 1929 Solinger 273-148 X 2,001,0675/1935 Lane 273-453 3,258,268 6/ 1966 Treinis 273146 FOREIGN PATENTS374,474 4/ 1923 Germany. 169,637 10/ 1921 Great Britain.

ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner US. "Cl. X.R. 116-120; 273146

